Happy Jack

Thanks guys. I have to say, I'm tempted by the idea of putting the bass on the stage at the end of the gig, pouring lighter fluid all over it, and setting fire to it. I never realised that Hendrix was actually trying to restore the finish on his Strat ...

And, of course, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being "fine with a Squier". If I played instruments pitched at the level of my playing ability then I'd probably have an Encore and, for me, the Squier would be an aspirational instrument. There is no bassline that I have ever played that couldn't have been played on a £200 bass. The reason I play a Mike Lull T5 (current retail price c.£4500 though that is WAY more than I paid for mine) is simply because I like it, well, love it to bits would be more accurate, and I CAN. "I imagine the sock placement is partly to do with easy of sitting position." And how do you know where Anthony Jackson places his socks?

The biggest albums of 1971 in the USA were Tapestry (Carole King), Pearl (Janis Joplin) and All Things Must Pass (George Harrison). As peaks go, I've seen bigger. On t'other hand, in the UK you're looking at Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel), Every Picture Tells A Story (Rod Stewart) and Sticky Fingers (Rolling Stones). That's taking us a bit higher. Dig a bit deeper into those charts and you'll find some truly great rock music IMHO, but then given my age (I was 15 in 1971) that's hardly surprising; this is the stuff I grew up listening to. Who's Next is my favourite album by The Who and it did reach No.1 in the charts ... for just a single week. At the time, it was a well-received album but not considered in any way ground-shattering. Most of the reviews note that it was actually a step back towards 'normal' rock music after the excesses of Tommy. ***************************** The Top Ten singles included Knock Three Times (Dawn), Pushbike Song (The Mixtures), Never Ending Song Of Love (New Seekers) and either Grandad (Clive Dunn) or Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep (Middle Of The Road) depending on which charts you believe. I think we can safely say that 1971 was probably more of a valley than a peak for popular (as opposed to rock) music.

Mine doesn't.

Not sure which bass you're talking about there ... can't see an AJ6 listed just now.

You do that with everything.

The advert pretty much shrieks exclusivity (so don't apply if you're in any other bands), obsession (two rehearsals a week, plus studio time), and lack of gigs (no bass player for four months? really?). For the right person this will probably be a great step forward and hopefully a happy ending. But it may take a long time for that person to emerge.

You'll soon get used to the way that you can't walk past it without pausing to pluck the E string ...

Oh Denis ...

Ah yes ... of course I'd also need to buy a MacBook. Outstanding. I've hated Apple kit for over 30 years. Can't see that changing any time soon.

See if you can work this lot out: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-Ovation-Magnum-Bass-70S-USED-with-hard-case/183219362223?hash=item2aa8b999af:g:gMAAAOSwV9ha9GyZ https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-Ovation-Magnum-Bass-70S-used-used-bass-606/112975680992?hash=item1a4de015e0:g:ySoAAOSwugha7C9f https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-Magnum-Bass-Vintage-Natural-Electric-Jazz-Bass-Guitar-4-String-with-HC/163028460077?hash=item25f540e22d:g:a18AAOSw1LRa6XTD https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-Ovation-Magnum-Bass-Used-Electric-Bass-FREE-Shipping/173337666871?hash=item285bbae537:g:0aAAAOSwUP5a4xfr https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ovation-Ovation-Magnum-Bass-70S-USED-with-hard-case/183244915029?hash=item2aaa3f8155:g:24gAAOSwEARbCiFl So that's quite clearly the same bass, appearing simultaneously in five different eBay adverts from five different eBay accounts, all of them listed at utterly ludicrous prices. No, me neither.

I would almost put that forward to The Junkyard Dogs just to see the looks on their faces ...

For me, then, the problem is the signal path. Player --> Roli --> Laptop --> Interface --> PA, instead of Player --> Keyboard --> Combo. Old-school involves plugging in a power cord and an instrument cable. Sooper-dooper new-school involves plugging together three pieces of kit before you get to the PA, each connection using a different cable type, and every stage offering loads of extra ways to get the settings & interfaces wrong, plus the added benefit of relying on downloaded software and patches to make any sound at all. What could possibly go wrong? To be clear, I love the idea of these things and I've seriously contemplated buying one, but the realities of using one in a live band situation look pretty nightmarish to me. If I was in a touring band with tech guys and roadies then fine, but at the Dog & Duck? Not for me, Clive ...

How do you use these things in a live-on-stage, band situation? Presumably you can't simply run a 1/4" jack-to-jack or XLR cable into your PA, so you do you run this into a laptop, have a bunch of sounds stored on the hard disk, and then run from the laptop into the PA? Please tell me that 5-pin DIN plugs are not involved anywhere in the process ...

Actually it was a brand new Encore ...

So that's 17 people who are interested in attending this event. So long as someone (else) organises it. And chooses which town to hold it in. And sets a date which doesn't clash with everyone's diary. What could possibly go wrong?

The band were on their last legs in 1972 and about to implode, when the News Of The World published an exposee about the band and groupies. The ensuing publicity pushed the failing band back into the spotlight and resulted in their success with this single which was pretty much their last real hit. It also explains the line during the playout at the end which goes: "read the Sunday papers" ...

I had quite forgotten what a great track that is.

I've lost count of the number of bands I've rehearsed with or auditioned for at that place. Scuzzy as it was, I'll miss it.

Playing bass for Trevor Horn ... no pressure, then.

I rather like this actually. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ashbory-type-bass-guitar-with-a-difference/173334881188?hash=item285b9063a4:g:hUEAAOSwwwRa7DTk But I'm really not convinced by the nut.

... when you can talk about the case? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jack-Casady-Signature-Epiphone-Bass-Guitar-Metallic-Goldtop-WITH-CASE/132628599106?hash=item1ee147d142:g:yDAAAOSwT4Za8IJl

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIQUE-HANDBUILT-BASS-GUITAR-IN-GOLD-MIRROR-WITH-1-HUMBUCKER-SEE-DESCRIPTION/112976729155?hash=item1a4df01443:g:2p0AAOSwLXpa0dEW

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Prometeus-Ahab-fullscale-bass-luthier-made-in-Italy-superb/292470856663?hash=item44189f1bd7:g:RyYAAOSwN5Vam91G

Why thank'ee, thank'ee kindly fer the kind words, gents. The bass is part of my obsession with Mike Lull's work, in this case an incredibly light 54 P.